Seamus Coleman sings former manager David Moyes' praises

Seamus Coleman admits he will always owe David Moyes a debt of gratitude for turning him from a League of Ireland player into a full international.

Coleman was still learning his football at Sligo Rovers when Moyes invested a modest £60,000 in the then 20-year-old to take him to Everton in January 2009.

In the early hours of Wednesday morning, he will hope to take the latest step in his blossoming career by lining up for the Republic of Ireland against World and European champions Spain at Yankee Stadium in New York.

That honour would come at the end of a season during which he has established himself as first-choice right-back for both club and country, and that is in no small part a result of the faith invested in him by the new Manchester United manager.

Coleman said: "He took me from League if Ireland team and made me into a Premier League and international footballer. I'll always have good things to say about him.

"He's always been one to pull you up on things - 'You're doing things right, you're doing things wrong'.

"He's been brilliant with me. I owe him an awful lot and I wish him the best of luck.

"He's helped the defensive side of my game. He played me in midfield for two seasons - that's where he saw fit for me in the first couple of years - and I gained a lot of experience from that.

"Tony Hibbert was injured at the start of the season and he saw it was the time to give me a go at right-back. I think it was the right time."

Coleman has always insisted right-back was his natural position, and the 24-year-old turned in perhaps one of the most eye-catching displays of his career to date in Ireland's 1-1 friendly draw at Wembley on 29 May.

He made two vital goal-line clearances at one end of the pitch and also provided the inch-perfect cross from which Shane Long headed the visitors into the lead at Wembley Stadium.

Coleman said: "I had a spell [on loan] at Blackpool when I was playing at right-back and I really enjoyed it. But obviously that was the Championship, and the Premier League is a big step up.

"I had a few games this season where I started off. I was just back in the role after a couple of years and you could tell that you're out of it for a while.

"But I'm back in the full swing of it and enjoying it."

Coleman will return to the Everton fold for pre-season after a well-earned break, albeit with a new manager to impress following Roberto Martinez's appointment as Moyes' successor.

However, he will do so having been given the low-down on the Spaniard by Ireland team-mate James McCarthy.

The defender said: "I spoke to James about him and he always has good things to say about him.

"Like David Moyes with me, Martinez was brilliant with James, so he obviously has positive things to say about him."

Moyes, of course, will also be embarking on a new challenge, and Coleman is confident he will make his mark at Old Trafford.

He said: "I think Alex Ferguson had a big say in who the manager would be, so he must see something good in him. He has that longevity too. He's been at Everton for 10 years and that's maybe something Alex Ferguson looked at, someone who was at a club for so long.

"He's done so well with Everton over the last 10 years, top eight every year with maybe not the budget everyone else has. He always manages to pick up good players. I can only say good things about him.

"We will have to wait and see, but I'm sure he wouldn't take on a job like that if he didn't believe in his own ability."